


Soft-Hearted

by bazerella



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Future Fic, M/M, Soft Andrew Minyard
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-09-16
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:41:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26502307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bazerella/pseuds/bazerella
Summary: The foxes often like to think that between Andrew and Neil, Andrew is the one that everyone should fear. They like to think that Andrew is the one with all the power, that he’s going to be the one who eventually hurts Neil. They believe that Neil is the soft one, with his sweaters that have sleeves that go past his fingers, his fluffy auburn hair, and his ocean blue eyes.(Or Andrew Minyard is actually the soft one and here are three different examples to prove it)
Relationships: Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 30
Kudos: 510





	Soft-Hearted

The foxes often forgot that before he was Neil Josten, he was someone else. He was someone who was made only to survive. They forget that he has taken lives and he has the scars to prove that his life was once something dangerous. 

Andrew doesn’t know why the foxes, especially the older ones, like to act like Neil is some helpless baby animal who can’t do anything on his own. They forget that he was basically on his own his whole life. They forget that if Neil wanted to, he could probably take out every last one of them on the team. Including Renee. Including Andrew, himself. 

Andrew isn’t as disturbed by the fact that Neil could take him down as one would think. In fact, Andrew takes a sort of comfort in knowing that Neil would not allow Andrew to be like the men from his past. Parts of Andrew understand the upperclassmen’s needs to act as Neil’s protector. Andrew wants to protect Neil from ever being hurt again. The difference is that Neil had asked Andrew to let him stand on his own, so Andrew does, he let’s Neil fight his own battles and only gets involved if he’s asked.

The foxes often like to think that between Andrew and Neil, Andrew is the one that everyone should fear. They like to think that Andrew is the one with all the power, that he’s going to be the one who eventually hurts Neil. They believe that Neil is the soft one, with his sweaters that have sleeves that go past his fingers, his fluffy auburn hair, and his ocean blue eyes. 

Andrew isn’t mad about it. He’s always known that he will never be more than a “monster” in the eyes of the upperclassmen. It helps, really, being seen that way. He’s not expected to play nice or pretend like his gives a fuck about the gossip everyone else on the team seems to love so much. 

Aaron is the only one who ever saw it the other way. It was an uncomfortable conversation that happened in the maserati after one of their joint therapy sessions. Aaron has been moving his fingernail over the material of the seatbelt, creating a piercing sound that gave Andrew chills. 

“Stop.” Andrew had said and was surprised when Aaron had. There was a moment of silence before Aaron spoke. 

“You don’t always have to be so tough,” Aaron said. “If Neil isn’t treating you right, you let me know.” 

Andrew raised an eyebrow at his twin. 

“Andrew.” Aaron no longer said Andrew’s name like an afterthought. He said it with confidence instead of wariness. “You let me know, okay?” 

“Okay.” Andrew wasn’t sure what Aaron thought he could do in a face off with Neil, but Andrew liked how Aaron nodded to himself, as though he had just done something grand. His relationship with his brother was still on eggshells but he found himself rooting for Aaron more often than not. It was a small indulgence Andrew allowed himself to have. That one day he would have the brother that his five year old self had wished for. 

Besides Aaron, the rest of the foxes live in their fantasy world. Again, Andrew isn’t mad about it. Sometimes he takes great pleasure in the moments where the foxes have to come face to face with the fact that Neil Josten is a mouthy little asshole. Neil Josten is a straight up menace to society, the vain of Andrew’s existence. Andrew has not said the words yet, but Andrew loves Neil Josten not despite his tendency to piss off anyone within three feet of himself, but because of it. 

~

“Pouting isn’t going to make me change my mind.” 

Andrew was  _ not _ pouting. The idea that he would even pout is beyond ridiculous. He narrowed his eyes and frowned. Frowning was a normal expression for Andrew to have. Not pouting. 

In his hands Andrew was holding a tiny little furball of a kitten that he had found loitering on the roof while he was smoking. Neil had been at night practice with Kevin. Andrew had opted not to go on the basis that night practice was dumb and he didn’t want to go. He was on his second cigarette when he heard the quiet meowing. Andrew had a brief stare-down with the cat, and when the cat didn’t shudder or run away, Andrew decided that it was now his. 

Neil had come back to the room alone. Kevin went to the girls room for reasons Andrew didn’t care to find out. Neil had found Andrew sitting on the couch, watching something mindless on tv, with his cat in his lap. Neil was immediately against the idea, saying stupid things like “Andrew, we live in a dorm, we can’t have a pet” and “Cats are weird.” 

Andrew held the cat with both hands out to Neil. He didn’t say anything. Just held the cat out for Neil to observe. The cat didn’t do much. Neil’s eyes moved back and forth from the cat to Andrew. 

He sighed. “Fine. You have to take care of it yourself, though.” 

Andrew shrugged. He was good at taking care of his people, and now his cat was one of his people. 

The cat ended up living underneath the bunk bed that Andrew and Neil shared. Andrew bought tiny gates to set up like a bed skirt so that the cat wouldn’t get out when he was at class. Kevin found out about the cat on the cat’s third day of residency. Kevin had started to complain but Andrew glared him into submission and that was that. 

One night, a few weeks later Nicky had come over to the dorm. Nicky was trying to teach Kevin how to play some video game that Andrew didn’t care about when the cat started crying. 

Nicky paused the video game. “What the hell is that?” 

Neil responded, “The cat.” 

“The cat?” Nicky asked, confused. 

Andrew got up and retrieved the cat from the bedroom. He held it in his arms and gave it a quick kiss on the nose before going back out. When he walked in Nicky was looking at him with bright eyes. 

“Oh! It’s so cute! Is it a boy or a girl?” 

Andrew shrugged. He hadn’t bothered to check. Gender was a social construct anyway. He placed the cat next to Neil and the cat immediately nuzzled into Neil’s space. 

“This is too cute,” Nicky gushed. “Neil, how did you convince Andrew to let you have a cat?” 

Ah. There it was. The idea that it must be Neil who wanted the cute little kitten, because Andrew was callous and cruel and therefore he could never be the one who has taken care of the animal for the last three weeks. 

“It’s Andrew’s cat,” Neil said. 

“What?” 

“Andrew found it on the roof. He pouted at me until I caved and agreed we could keep it,” Neil explained. 

“I did not pout,” Andrew butt in. 

Neil smiled at him. His all encompassing smile that was just for Andrew. “There was definitely pouting involved. But it’s fine, I’ve grown to tolerate the cat. I just don’t want to be responsible for it.” 

Nicky was looking back and forth between the two as though it was causing him to use parts of his brain that were previously never used to try and comprehend the fact that Andrew was the one who took care of the cat and Neil just offered it the occasional pet every now and then. 

The cat tried to climb onto Neil’s lap but Neil just picked it up with one hand and gave it back to Andrew. The cat curled up in Andrew’s lap and Andrew ran one of his hands through its fur. 

Nicky still looked shell-shocked. 

“Can we go back to playing? I was just getting good,” Kevin said. 

“No you weren’t,” Neil scoffed. 

“Shut up, Neil.” 

Nicky and Kevin continued playing while Neil added unnecessary commentary, mostly at the fact that Kevin sucked at this particular game. Andrew played with his cat. 

When Nicky got up to leave at the end of the night, Andrew watched as Nicky assessed Andrew and the cat. 

“It needs a name,” Nicky offered. 

Andrew sighed. “Text me.” 

Nicky took a moment but when he finally realized Andrew was giving him permission to text him probably ridiculous cat names he lit up. 

“Oh, yeah, of course. I’ll come up with something good!” 

Andrew doubted it. When Andrew woke up the next day he had a single text from Nicky. 

**_Nicky:_ ** _ King Fluffkins.  _

Andrew liked it. 

~

  
  


It was during an exy game when it happened. Some gigantic backliner from the other team knocked Kevin to the ground. The Foxes were too focused on making sure Andrew didn’t leave the goal. They forgot about Neil. 

Andrew was ready to break Matt in half to get to Kevin but when he saw Neil silently cross the court he relaxed. He recognized the predatory body language Neil was showing as he stalked closer and closer to the backliner. 

“Oh, fuck.” Matt commented. Oh fuck was right. 

In less than a second Neil had the backliner pinned against the wall. Most were looking on in shock, disbelief crossing all their faces as though they couldn’t believe that 5’3” Neil Josten had some 6’4” backliner completely paralyzed. See, Andrew never forgot where Neil came from, or what he’s capable of so this was not a surprise to him. Plus, Andrew knew a little bit about being able to defend yourself from people who were bigger than you. It was always the small ones people underestimated. Andrew knew better. 

Andrew was too far away to hear but he could tell Neil was talking to the backliner. He could also tell that whatever Neil was saying to the backliner had him scared shitless. The backliners eyes were wide and Andrew could see his legs shaking. 

Kevin got up off the ground with the help of Allison. He headed over to Neil and leaned down to tell him something, Andrew assumed it was something along the lines of “Stop before you get a red card” because even after getting slammed to the ground, Kevin Day still only cared about the game. 

Neil seemed to snap out of it because he gave the backliner one final push and then stalked off back to his spot on the court. The backliner stayed against the wall for a moment and then called for his coach to call a timeout. Andrew watched as the backliner was quickly replaced with someone else. The rest of the game continued, the backliner stayed on the bench the rest of the game, shaking. The Foxes won, Andrew didn’t care. 

Back in the locker room it was Matt who asked first. 

“So, Neil...what uh, what did you say?” He didn’t have to specify who he was talking about. Even the press had wanted to know what Neil had said to make a giant backliner cower in fear but Wymack didn’t allow the press near Neil after the game.

Neil shrugged. “Nothing important.” 

“He spent the rest of the game looking like he was going to cry,” Aaron pointed out. 

“Hmm.” Neil hummed in acknowledgement. 

“Whatever.” Aaron said before grabbing his stuff and heading out of the locker room. Matt and Nicky followed when it was clear Neil was not going to respond to their inquiries. 

Andrew, Kevin and Neil all walked out together moments later. The parking lot was empty except for Andrew’s car so the rest of his lot must’ve headed back to the dorms with Matt and the girls. 

The ride was silent. Kevin got out and hesitated before Andrew gave him a nod to leave him and Neil. 

“Are we going somewhere?” Neil asked. 

“No. Just sitting.” 

“Okay.” Neil was like that. Easily agreeing to whatever Andrew wanted when asked. 

Andrew toyed over words in his head. Thinking of the best way to bring this up. It didn’t bother him, really, that everyone thought he was the monster in the relationship and Neil was the soft one. But he wanted to know if Neil noticed. He wanted to know what Neil thought about it. 

“When Kevin went down,” Andrew started, “Everyone ran at me. You were the one who threatened the backliner.” 

“Does that bother you?” Neil didn’t deny that he threatened the backliner. 

“No,” Andrew said quickly. Maybe too quickly. 

Neil raised his eyebrows as though he knew Andrew was lying but stayed quiet until Andrew spoke again. 

“Nicky thought the cat was yours. Tonight, they thought I was the one who needed to be kept in check.” 

“They don't know you. Not who you really are, anyway,” Neil said. 

“They don’t know you either. They think you need protection, and need to be coddled.” 

Neil sighed. “It makes them feel better about themselves, I think. I kept everything a secret from everyone for so long. Now that they know more about me, they want to be there for me because they weren’t able to before.” 

Andrew could relate. If he had one thing in common with the rest of the foxes it was that he also wanted to make sure nothing bad ever happened to Neil Josten again. 

Andrew switched tactics, “Who do you think is humanizing who in this relationship?” 

Neil didn’t even react to Andrew actually calling what they have a relationship. 

“I don’t think of it like that,” Neil explained. “You are you and that’s all I ever want you to be just as I’m me. Yes, being with you has made me change, I don’t want to run as much as I used to. Or if I do, I want to run with you. No amount of  _ this _ is going to change the itch to run, just as no amount of this is going to change who you are at your core. And I think that’s okay.  _ This _ is just for us, no matter what the others say or think.” 

Andrew was feeling so instead of responding to all Neil just said, he deflected, “You read that in your horoscope?” 

Neil rolled his eyes. “Yes or no?” 

“Yes.” 

Neil moved a hand to wrap around the back of Andrew’s neck. He pulled him close and let Andrew close the distance between their lips. 

“If you want, I can start more fights at practice so they know exactly what kind of person I am,” Neil suggested when they broke apart. 

“You start enough fights,” Andrew said as he pushed Neil’s face away. 

The next day at practice if Neil was extra mouthy, well, Andrew would deny it, but he appreciated the gesture. 

~

It was no secret that Andrew Minyard hated cops. But, in the case of his four year old daughter, and his parenting style, it had to be said that Andrew was definitely the good cop parent. It was that Neil was necessarily the “bad cop”. It was just...when his daughter looked up at Andrew with her Neil-blue eyes and told him that she didn’t  _ mean _ to draw on the walls, she just ran out of paper, well, how could he fault her? She ran out of paper. 

Andrew would shrug and then the two of them would clean up the wall and share a chocolate chip cookie. Neil on the other hand would crouch down to his daughters height and simply ask why if she ran out of paper, did she not go get more paper. She knew where the extra paper was, Neil reasoned, there was no reason to draw on the walls. Neil would tell her that drawing on the walls was bad and that she shouldn’t do that again. 

Andrew thought Neil had an unfair advantage. Neil didn’t get all weak at the sight of his own eyes. Neil had no idea what it was like to see those eyes saddened. Sometimes Andrew wished their daughter had more of his features. Maybe then Andrew would be able to hold his ground. After all, he’s never had a problem disciplining himself. 

The blue eyes were a coincidence. Biologically, Annie Minyard-Josten was not related to either Andrew or Neil. She was related to someone Andrew didn’t care to think about. And it didn’t matter anyway because she was Andrew’s now. She was Neil’s. She was Andrew and Neil’s. 

Andrew had retired from exy as soon as the adoption papers were complete. That was two years ago. Neil still played because of course he did. Andrew didn’t mind being a stay at home dad. He didn’t mind that Neil sometimes was away because of away games. This was their life and it was something Andrew never thought he would have. 

“Andrew. You can’t reward her with a cookie when she does something wrong,” Neil said. They were facing each other in bed and Andrew didn’t want to talk about this right now. He pulled up the covers to hide under. 

Neil laughed but still had his serious voice on. “Andrew, c’mon, seriously.” 

Andrew gave in and opened the blanket to let Neil under. They were silent for a while, Neil assessing and Andrew trying very hard to not give anything away. 

“She’s not going to hate you if you have to tell her no.” 

As usual, Neil could see right through him. As far as childhoods went, Andrew and Neil both were not winners in that department. Andrew never wanted his daughter to feel afraid to come home or feel as though she wasn’t loved. Somehow that twisted into Andrew letting her get away with whatever she wanted and never telling her no. He didn’t want to be like the foster parents he had that yelled at him for just existing. 

“She’s only four,” Andrew reasoned. 

“I know,” Neil said. “But it’s okay to say no, yeah? Sometimes we have to say no to each other. It doesn’t change how we feel. It won’t change how she feels. You’re her favorite dad.” 

“No I’m not.” 

Neil gave him a small smile. “You are. I’m not here as much as I should be, she spends more time with you. It’s okay. But we’re not talking about that right now. If anyone is going to be the one to teach her that she needs to accept that it’s a no sometimes, it should be you.” 

Andrew knew Neil was right. He hated when Neil was right. Andrew interlocked their hands between them, still under the covers, before he spoke again. 

“We watch your games,” Andrew said. “When you’re away. She makes me dig out your Palmetto jersey to wear.” 

Neil doesn’t say anything. He just smiles his blinding smile just for Andrew (and now for Annie). 

“Stop smiling.” 

“I can’t.” Neil said. “I’m happy.” 

“Yeah,” Andrew agreed. “Me too.” 

The next morning Annie demanded ice cream for breakfast. Neil stood leaned against the counter with his mug of coffee. He skipped his run for the morning because he had a whole day off and he wanted to spend it with Andrew and Annie. 

“We can have ice cream later,” Neil said. “Right now, we’re going to eat waffles.” 

Annie was a smart kid. She catalogued in her brain that even though Neil had said no, Andrew hadn’t. 

She turned toward Andrew. “Daddy I want ice cream for breakfast.” 

Andrew took a breath. “Not today. We’re going to have waffles and then later on we’ll all get ice cream.” 

Andrew waited for the screaming, for the tears, for the tantrum. None of those happened. Instead Annie had a stare off with him, and then with Neil. 

She shrugged. “Okay.” 

Andrew felt the tension come out of his body. Neil kissed him on the head as he left the kitchen to get dressed. When he reappeared, he noticed that while yes, Andrew had said no ice cream for breakfast, he didn’t say anything about whipped cream. 

Annie’s waffles were piled high with whipped cream and she was laughing as Andrew lifted the can and poured some right into his own mouth. 

Neil just laughed and wrapped his arms around Andrew from behind, “You are so soft, Andrew Minyard.” 

_ I can live with that _ , Andrew thought. It wasn’t what was expected of someone like him, and Andrew quite liked that. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> can you tell im obsessed with aaron and andrew having a good relationship yet?????? 
> 
> find me on twitter and tumblr @ bazerella all i do is talk to myself and i want friends


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